General Question

Why does my cat scratch around his food bowl?

Recently, my cat started scratching vigorously, on all 4 sides of his bowl when he’s finished eating. This includes the walls near his bowl. I didn’t change his food or anything, so I can’t understand what’s going through his fuzzy, little mind.

It’s almost like he’s trying to cover it up, the same way he does with his litter.

10 Answers

It’s instinct for cats to cache food, cover up the kill. Your cat is attempting to bury/ hide his food so others won’t take it.
If your cat was a mountain lion he would cover up his deer carcass with leaves and branches and dirt and come back to feed again later.

My cats have done this sporadically but not consistently. It’s such a long standing instinctual behavior trait from generations and I guess sometimes they feel their food is more vulnerable than at other times?

Obviously with us to feed them, its not vulnerable at all but instinct isn’t really logical. It just is. Its the same type of thing as the need to circle round and round before finally settling in to lie down. In the wild it served to trample down the leaves, brush and debris in the outdoors but doesn’t really apply indoors. But their instinct has them doing it anyway even on an already comfortable carpeted floor or cozy human bed :)

I live in Mtn. Lion territory over here and have, on several occasions, have been out hiking and come across cached deer carcasses. Bad, very bad…get the hell away from that deer now. The hills have eyes, oh yes they do! lol